Two teenagers arrested, weapon seized at basketball tournament in Roxbury

A teenager allegedly carried a black Ruger semi-automatic pistol with an obscured serial number during a basketball tournament at Malcolm X Park in Roxbury on Wednesday. (Boston Police photo)

Two teenagers were arrested and an illegal firearm was seized at a basketball tournament in Roxbury on Wednesday night, Boston police reported Thursday.

At around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, officers from the Youth Violence Strike Force, who were responsible for public safety at an outdoor basketball tournament, were patrolling Malcolm X Park in Roxbury.

Police first noticed two young men, later identified as Anthony Diaz, 18, of Malden, and Braxten Baker, 18, of Brockton. They said they were “uninterested in the basketball game in progress and focused on the police officers monitoring the park.”

Police observed the two throughout the game and recognized in Diaz “characteristics of a person carrying a firearm,” the police statement said.

Diaz stopped before the basketball tournament ended and began running when officers approached him, Boston police said. He was quickly stopped by police.

After a “brief struggle,” Boston police said, a firearm was found in his pants.

As officers attempted to arrest Diaz, the second teen, Baker, intervened in the altercation, police said. Baker attempted to “push himself close to officers and physically obstructed them” during the arrest, officers reported.

Baker was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace and resisting arrest.

The weapon was reportedly a black Ruger semi-automatic pistol with an obliterated serial number and a “Six Ray” laser attachment used as an aiming aid. The magazine contained six live .22 caliber rounds and one round was in the chamber.